Screen Name

The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first.

The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first.

This Facebook account is already present

Your Club account has been locked due to a breach of our Terms of Service. Please set up a new account in line with the Club rules. Review the Club Rules. Alternatively, you can email us by completing our contact form.

Please enter a valid email address

The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first.

Ozil: Wenger's confidence had me

New Arsenal signing Mesut Ozil admits that he had no intention of leaving Real Madrid until realising that he risked being left on the sidelines in the Spanish capital.

Ozil saw Gareth Bale complete his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to the Santiago Bernabeu earlier on Monday before agreeing to move to the Emirates Stadium for a reported £42.4m.

And the Germany playmaker later said in an interview with the German Football Association's official website that he agreed to the move after it became clear that he no longer figured in the plans of Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"At that moment (a few days ago), I was certain that I would stay at Real Madrid, but afterwards I realised that the coach and the board no longer had confidence in me," he said. "I am a player who needs that confidence and the possibility came up to go to Arsenal, which is why I chose to go there."

Now he is looking forward to linking up with international colleagues such as Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski in north London, as well as working for Arsenal's German-speaking manager Arsene Wenger.

"Arsene Wenger showed confidence in me and now I will be able to continue progressing as a player," the former Schalke and Werder Bremen player said. "I want to be on top form for the World Cup. I spoke to him for a long time on the telephone and he explained to me how he thinks football should be played."

"Naturally, I am delighted to now be able to play with Podolski and Mertesacker. I am really satisfied with this new challenge, I know already that they have brilliant supporters, that the stadium is super and that there is class in the team."

Ozil is currently with the Germany squad preparing for the FIFA World Cup™ qualifying double-header against Austria on Friday in Munich and the Faroe Islands away next Tuesday.

His Arsenal debut could come in their next English Premier League fixture, at Sunderland on Saturday, 14 September.